Plato Lights Alice
Forcibly down rabbit holes
We do not know who we are until we are free
And until then, we will be out in the sun
Against the shadows of Plato’s light
(for Plato lights his shadows and we do not)
We are not carbon copies
Nor are we infinite in our anxieties over death
We hold the corridors within our bodies
That time does not stretch
We do not go through doors
We walk right into wonderland
No mania or wicked queen will feed our men
No tea party or roses red will lead to madness
Against the mass existence of reproduction
Plato lights Alice like Alice lights men
(yet we are not copies with lights at our backs)
We do not fear the lack of ambition
We are not going somewhere
We are not waiting to be complete
And we speak not to illuminate
Against ourselves we are not one
With ourselves we are dual and ambiguous
I’m not here to stand on your language
Freak it chic, transit, or gather it
I’m looking back at your Gomorrah
If you’re burning to the ground
Maybe your sweet Alice’s tears
Will sooth your fears of woman
Sooth your fears and grow your garden
Like Plato’s light feeding the slaves
Lighting his shadows molding an Eden
Gestating his negatives
Clburdett, 2019